32 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. m. 



"bungalow or rest-house, built for the convenience of 

 travellers by the Government. The native police were 

 very attentive, and we took our luncheon here and 

 strolled around the station, and saw abundant evidence 

 of the wild pig's, which are said to be very plentiful. 

 While we waited, the Maharajah drove up in a neat 

 little carriage drawn by a pair of ponies. This was just 

 before his visit to England, and we obtained a good view 

 of him. He is a fine manly fellow, with a bushy mous- 

 tache, and was dressed in white trousers and jacket, with 

 a white sun-hat, and wore a coloured " sarong " around 

 his waist. We informed him of our intended visit to 

 the mountain, and he promised us that Mr. Hole, his 

 secretary, should furnish us with guides and boatmen. 



We had arranged with a Chinese sampan man to ferry 

 ourselves and baggage over, but just as we were about 

 starting one of the little steam ferry-boats came over, and 

 leaving "Johnnie" to bring on our things and a Chinese 

 "boy" in charge, we crossed in the steamboat. We 

 took up our quarters with Mr. Boultbee, with whom we 

 were to stay the night. Jahore itself we found to be a 

 straggling place built along the margin of the strait, and 

 consisting of the Istana and a mosque, together with a 

 few whitewashed houses roofed with red tiles, and native 

 palm-thatched cottages. The best of the tiled houses 

 are occupied by Chinese shopkeepers, the principal 

 wares being rice, fruit, fish, coopeiy, boxes, baskets, and 

 miscellaneous stores. The principal industry of the place 

 is the timber trade. Extensive steam saw-mills, fitted 

 with good machinery, are here worked b} r the Maharajah, 

 a good many natives being employed in the trade, while 

 the timber finds a market in Singapore, where a depot 

 exists for business purposes. A railway was projected 

 to the forest near Gunong Puloi some years ago, and 



